Is this growth exponential?
The first useful application of the idea of doubling time is that it allows you to determine whether a population is indeed in exponential growth. Try this below:
So, a general procedure for deciding whether growth is exponential is to determine whether the population size continues to double in the same amount of time. If doubling time gets longer, then growth is slowing down. If it gets faster, growth is speeding up.
The Case of ... Clues
| Time | # E.coli |
|---|---|
| 10:10 am | 2.4 * 105 |
| 10:34 am | 4.3 * 105 |
| 10:38 am | 4.8 * 105 |
| 10:46 am | 5.9 * 105 |
| 11:00 am | 8.2 * 105 |
| 11:06 am | 9.6 * 105 |
Is this population growing exponentially? How do you know?
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